CancerDoc

I am writing this story for my nephew Advik who is a super hero fan.

Once upon a time there was a peaceful country called human. The country was divided into multiple states called as systems. Majority of the states were under the control of the capital of states called as CNS. It was powerful state and it could control any other state with a single impulse/signal. Everyone were happy in that country.

After the country got in touch with other countries, entire country started getting addicted to a mysterious chemical called as nicotine. Nicotine and other tobacco products were smuggled into the entire country through the border state called as Oral cavity. Even though the capital was trying to control the smuggling, it couldn’t do it cos of the addictive nature of nicotine. This uncontrolled smuggling continued for years.

Under the influence of tobacco and through the help of foreign funding people from the Human country started forming a powerful group which was planning to destroy the entire human country. They were brainwashed so much that they were ready to destroy their own home. Slowly they started growing, breeding among themselves and destroying the neighbouring places. Now the group was big enough to be recognised. They called themselves “The Cancer Group”. They were unstoppable. They were motivated so much that they could survive through any hostile environment. They established their head quarters in the region called as anterior tongue of the state of Oral cavity. They were planning to spread slowly but thoroughly through the entire country.

Whole country was now in despair and disbelief. Unable to handle the situation by themselves they asked for help. They got an information that there is a place in a distant world called PGIMER. It had the best warrior clans who could help any country in any situation. The Human country sent a message immediately and asked for their help.PGIMER accepted the request and formed a board of clans to handle the situation and made a fool proof plan.

First they sent a clan who were so powerful that no one could stand in front of their knives. No enemy, how powerful they may be , either they disappear or hide themselves, but if they do the mistake of appearing in front of their knives, they would be cut mercilessly. The clan works day and night and even in sleep they are ready to fight. They won’t bother even to destroy an entire region to kill the insurgency. They call themselves – “ The Surgeon Clan”.

Surgeon clan went according to the plan and destroyed the entire cancer group. They cut everything around the group and even the distant connections were destroyed by their mighty weapons. They were hopeful to establish the peace.

But the intelligence department handled by “The Pathology Clan” reported the Surgeon Clan that they couldn’t kill everyone. Their report was so clear that the risk of future cancer group formation was worrisome.

But PGIMER already had a plan.

When no one can see anything, when the future is bleak, when the chance of future Cancer group formation is for sure, they have no other option but to summon the Clan with most powerful weapons in history of histories. The clan with mighty weapons which are so powerful that they will destroy anything which comes in its way, the Clan which is relatively new, but made a name of its own, powerful of the powerful – ‘The Radiation Clan’.

After studying the detailed report from intelligence department, Radiation Clan made a map of the areas in which the enemy might have hidden. They took permission from the human country that some its own people and few cities may be destroyed in the process, but to save the country, few sacrifices has to be made.Radiation Clan went according to the plan and blasted the entire mapped regions using its powerful weapons. Entire regions were irradiated. Maximum power of the weapons were used. The entire region was cleansed from Cancer group.There was peace for now.

The Human country gave its word that it would stop the smuggling of tobacco any more. It’s been only three months now, the continuous surveillance is going on.

I,Dr.Sandeep Tula,belong to the Radiation Clan and the above photos show my weapons.

It is a winter night and Abhishek is going back  home from work. All his thoughts are about Divya and how much she means to him. He wanted to express his feelings but was anxious as he had never professed love to a girl before . She is not like any other girl to him, she was someone special and he was afraid that he might lose her. He has been practicing the perfect way to convey his feelings. For him, she was more than just a friend.But every time she is before him, he forgets every dialogue practiced. He would just get lost in her beauty. Divya is his dream girl – tall and gorgeous. Her smile made him forget all his worries in life.

                  He had met her just a few months back and the little amount of time spent with her felt like a lifetime. He finally decides to express his love and plans a date packed with surprises. He wants the date to be memorable. He feels confident that she will accept his proposal. He is making calls on his way home to double-check on the arrangements. He reaches home and sits on sofa with a smile on his face, the reason for his smile being Divya.

                Within a fraction of second everything changes. He is lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Someone has hit him hard on his head with a bat. He could not move or shout for help. He felt numb and could sense the blood draining from his body. With fading vision he sees Nagarjun standing close to him. Nagarjun stabs him repeatedly and ruthlessly. There is  no more tissue left in the abdomen to take the stabbing. Nagarjun’s face was lit with the satisfaction of a murder. He was smiling and was clearly enjoying killing Abhishek.

              The reports of Serial killings in the city even after an increase in police patrolling is making every citizen go berserk. A psychopathic serial killer was on a killing spree. Police suspect that Abhishek has been murdered by the same psycho killer. But Divya is not content with the on-going investigation. She informs the police about Nagarjun and requests them to add him as a suspect .She recalls  Abhishek telling her once that he had a feud with Nagarjun’s family and they were after his life. She tries hard to gather evidence to find the real culprit as she firmly believes it is not the psycho killer who has killed him. All her efforts are in vain as no one is ready to listen to her side of the story.  She meets the investigating officer to describe the crucial differences between the psycho killers pattern and methodology of murder and Abhishek’s manner of death.

           Meanwhile she learns about the political backing of Nagarjun and is  quite aware of the consequences she might face. She feels the truth is being throttled by the police and political system. She starts receiving threats from  police and local goons. She learns through her network of friends that Nagarjun has made arrangements to flee the country. She decides to teach him a lesson and makes a plan for that.

          Divya texts Nagarjun on instagram and lures him to meet her. And being a womaniser he gives in to his  temptation to meet her. They set up a meeting at a hotel. Divya tells him to pick her up at Tribune chowk. After she gets into the car she introduces herself as Rupika and without wasting any time she starts kissing him. Mesmerised by her beauty Nagarjun is ready to do anything for her. Divya requests him to drop the idea of hotel and invites him to her place on Chandigarh Delhi highway.

        Nagarjun was high on drugs as well as the presence of a gorgeous lady beside him. Once they reach her home she offers him a drink mixed with sedative. Nagarjun drinks it without any hesitation and slips into sleep like a drugged animal. He wakes up in what appears to be an old store room. He is tied to a chair with chains and a device is attached to his collar.

       He realises that he is trapped and has  to make a quick plan to escape. Divya walks towards him and stares into his eyes for few minutes. The temptation to kill him was irresistible.

Divya : why did you kill Abhishek?

Nagarjun realises that she was Abhishek’s girlfriend.

Nagarjun : I am sorry, I know it’s a mistake and I am ready to accept it. Please don’t kill me. Please don’t do anything wrong. You cannot escape. You are not like me, you don’t want to be like me. Listen to your inner self, you are not a killer.

Divya gives a sarcastic smile and asks Nagarjun to look around. He was surrounded by racks with jars on them. They were all filled with a fluid and contained something .He tried to make out what they were from where he was chained. He strained his eyes and sweat broke out on his forehead when he finally realised what they were…..human fingers….chopped off.

Divya : Before you cook you marinate the meat, that makes the dish even more delicious.

“You killed Abhishek in an impressive way, I cannot stop myself from appreciating you.” “But he was my prey! he was my next target! ” screamed Divya. “You took away my pleasure, the ultimate high which I would have felt while chopping his fingers, one by one” hissed Divya. I had mercy for you, even thought of letting you live, but you made everyone believe that it was me who killed him. That’s clearly not my pattern of killing and I don’t let people die immediately. What’s the fun in a quick death when you can clearly enjoy the pain. You have tainted my reputation as a meticulous killer.

I am not going to kill you now. You will be staying here for the rest of your life and I will share with you my experiences of killing people. Now if you will excuse me, I have to sleep now because I need to aquire a new target tomorrow, new meat for marination.

Saying this Divya moves towards Nagarjun, chops his little finger and applies dressing to minimise blood loss. Nagarjun screams in pain and calls for help, little does he know that his voice can not reach anyone as he was in a basement surrounded by noise proof walls.

His screams resonated in that room for the rest of his life.

Pradeep Singh: What was the last dialled number? Just give it a call

Aditya dialled the number with the mobile on speaker mode.  Everyone present there listened curiously to the dialer tone

– “You are calling Mr Arun Yadav. Your call will be answered soon.”

“Hello, who is this”? asked the person on the other side.

Aditya: This is Aditya, Chandigarh police. I am calling regarding a case. May I know who am I speaking to?

“I am Arun Yadav, did my wife complain again?”

Aditya : I don’t think you watch the news, Stay wherever you are, the local police will escort you back to Chandigarh.

Aditya spoke to Hyderabad Police and asked them to escort Arun Yadav back to Chandigarh. Meanwhile, Pradeep Singh was searching for cases with any similar pattern. He was trying to come up with a theory for what could have happened. He knew that Rachna firmly believed that she had killed her husband Arun.

Pradeep Singh kept wondering. How can she kill someone and believe it to be someone else?

Did someone threaten her and make her kill him?

What if Rajneesh was her husband?

What if she was delusional and killed Rajneesh?

Why was Rajneesh in the apartment? Was it an extramarital affair?

Did she murder him alone?

Why did she destroy his face?

Aaaaaahhhhh, all these questions were making Pradeep Singh restless. This was the first intriguing case in a long time. It seemed simple yet difficult to connect the dots. The murderer had accepted killing the victim, yet there was confusion. These puzzles were going to be solved with Arun’s arrival and everyone at the police station was waiting for him.

Hyderabad police handed over Arun to the Chandigarh Police. Arun seemed distraught when he came to know that his wife killed herself. He could not believe it. He stared at the roof and tears were flowing through his eyes when Pradeep Singh entered the interrogation room.

Arun Yadav : do you know what happened? Why did she do this? Did you find out why she killed him?

Pradeep Singh banged his fist on the table and said with a loud voice, “You are not here to question, you are here to give me some answers. You better understand that”.

“What were you doing in Hyderabad? Where is your other mobile?” asked the inspector firmly.

Arun Yadav : I will answer all your questions, but please first let me see her. I just want to say goodbye to her.

He could not hold back his tears. His voice was trembling with emotion. He could not hold himself anymore and started crying loudly.

Pradeep Singh : I can tell when a person acts. I am in this profession for a long time. I don’t want to be harsh with you but I don’t believe you. You never loved your wife and she hated you.

So let me reframe my questions. What were you doing in Hyderabad? Where is your mobile? Why did she file a case on you previously? How do you know Rajneesh? You better start answering because I have a lot more questions and very less patience.

Arun Yadav : I own a house and some land in Hyderabad. I went to Hyderabad for making a business deal. You can confirm that. I lost my mobile a few days back, so I bought this new mobile. I have applied for the old number and in the meanwhile, I am using this new number. I don’t have the habit of using the internet or watching television. So I was unaware of the news.

Pradeep Singh : We will enquire about whatever bullshit you just told us. Now, let’s discuss the domestic violence case and your relation with Rajneesh.

Arun Yadav : Rajneesh was my school friend. He and I ventured into business together. We invested in real estate, we had investments in the brewery and many more sectors. I made a few bad choices and unfortunately lost my share of the money. He was kind enough to offer me a job and I started working for him.

I know you will not believe me but I loved my wife more than anything. I don’t blame you for not believing me because even she was not ready to believe me.  When she filed a case of domestic violence, I had proved to the police that I was at a different location during the alleged incident. I tried to talk to her but she started behaving strangely. There were days when she used to be nice to me and the next day she would throw things at me and abuse me. She became addicted to alcohol. Suddenly, one day she said she needs help and  started to consult a psychiatrist. But I still don’t understand the reason for killing someone. She was not that kind of a person.

Why would she kill someone? What was Rajneesh doing in my apartment?    

       Seeing Arun Yadav cry again, Pradeep offered him water and ordered for a tea. In the meanwhile, he ordered Dileep to confirm the details of Arun’s stay and his business. He closed his eyes to recall all the events and Rachna’s paintings flashed in front of his eyes.

Pradeep Singh : What about the paintings? Why does she paint the same person again and again in all the paintings?

Arun Yadav : She has had this hobby for many years. She used to say that paintings let her express herself and gave her peace.

Pradeep Singh : What about that person in every painting? Why does the person have no face?

Arun Yadav : That is because she doesn’t know how the person looks. It has something to do with her medical condition. She cannot process faces. She has prosopagnosia. She cannot recognise people by looking at their faces. In lay man’s terms she has face blindness.

” What kind of a story is this? Do you think I am a moron?!” bellowed Pradeep

Arun Yadav : This is not a story. You can read about it from the internet. You can confirm with her psychiatrist also. She was even more disturbed with her condition in the recent times. She started to have delusions also.

Pradeep Singh started processing all the information. He started to read about the condition and spoke to the doctors regarding Prosopagnosia .This new revelation of face blindness and a few more enquiries fuelled his theory of what could have happened.

The Truth of police

Pradeep Singh started narrating his theory:

Rajneesh came to know about the face blindness condition and made a plan to trap Rachna. He and Arun Yadav were almost of the same height and personality so Rajneesh took an advantage of it. May be he liked her and as he was not satisfied with his wife’s behaviour, he started to visit Rachna as Arun Yadav. As doctors said she may recognise a person from his dressing and personality, he might have dressed and behaved like Arun Yadav. As per her doctor she was also having problem with recognising voice, this helped him further. He must have been a sadist to torture her mentally and physically. That could be the reason for her domestic violence case against Arun, as she thought it was Arun who was harassing her. Finally, she could not bear it anymore and decided to put an end to her agony. She mustered courage and killed him ruthlessly.

Police was busy in proving Pradeep’s theory. Pradeep Singh was relieved as he found the truth finally. He could sleep peacefully now. Months passed and the case was finally closed. Arun Yadav initially was reluctant to accept this theory. He could not believe that it was his friend who did this to him. He argued with Pradeep Singh initially but later on made peace with the theory. His life was shattered by his close friend and he had no one to share his feelings with. Arun Yadav decided to move to a new place as he was unable to concentrate on work anymore. He went to meet Pradeep Singh for a final good bye and  thanked him for his support. That was the last time Pradeep Singh spoke to Arun Yadav.

After few months, Arun was sitting on a chair beside a pool with a glass of whiskey. He was recalling the beautiful moments with his wife.

 The Truth

Arun had moved to a new apartment in Naya-Gaon along with his wife. He made a plan to get rid of Rajneesh. He envied Rajneesh for his wealth and he wanted to enjoy his life with Rajneesh’s  money. He was having an affair with Sakshi, Rajneesh’s wife.

One day Arun invited Rajneesh to his apartment. As they reached the apartment parking, Arun said he had forgotten his phone in his office and told Rajneesh to wait in his apartment. Rajneesh went up to the apartment and rang the doorbell. Rachna opened the door and without any hesitation  gave him a hug. Rajneesh was taken aback and tried to push her away. It was then she realised that she had hugged someone else. She apologised for her behaviour and asked him to be seated and went inside her room. Arun  had never invited Rajneesh to his house before and even his marriage was a secret. This was the first time that Rajneesh had met Rachna. He immediately felt an attraction for her.

 He told Arun about the hug and apologised for what happened. Arun explained to Rajneesh about his wife’s medical condition of face blindness. They started drinking and the level of intoxication was so high that Rajneesh started speaking about the beauty of Rachna and how his relationship with his wife was haywire.

Arun grasped the opportunity and turned the conversation to his favour.

Arun : I don’t have any attachment with my wife. I don’t really love her. You can spend time with her if you want to…

Rajneesh : I don’t think that’s appropriate. I am not comfortable with this conversation. I will meet you later.

Rajneesh drove back to his home but the thought implanted by Arun did not fade away. He tries to resist the impulse but because of the treatment Sakshi gave him, he kept thinking of Rachna.

He finally succumbs to his desires and speaks to Arun about what can be done. Arun gives an idea that Rajneesh should visit his apartment during mid week when he will be out of station for a business deal. He should try to avoid talking much with Rachna as she can sometimes pick a cue from voice. He can do whatever he wants to and he convinced Rajneesh that it will not affect his realtionship as she will never know.

Rajneesh finally meets Rachna as Arun. He even uses the same perfume and spends the whole day with minimal talking. Rachna cooks dinner for him. She starts dancing after dinner and tries to arouse him. He couldn’t resist his inner demon and starts punching Rachna in her stomach when she tries to come close to him. Sakshi’s tantrums and his insecurities of being impotent makes him more angry. He keeps punching Rachna in stomach and storms away from the house.

Startled by this behaviour of her husband, Rachna decides to lodge a complaint with the police. Arun comes back from conference and convinces the police that he was not present when the incident happened. He behaves so charmingly with Rachna that she gets convinced it was her inner conflicts that made her imagine things. He showers so much love that she decides to withdraw the case.

After a few days Arun starts torturing her daily and on the same day he comes to her in a different attire , introduces himself as Arun’s friend Rajneesh and starts listening to her problems. He himself creates the problems and then listens to her as a third person. Soon Rachna falls for Rajneesh’s(Arun) affection and love. He convinces her that her husband is wicked. He tells her that he has a lot of wealth and can take care of police and the system. He plays with her emotions and convinces her that revenge is the only way out of it. He can manage to get her out from jail as early as possible and she can live freely, otherwise her husband will label her as a person with mental illness and she will have to bear with this torture through out her life. Rachna gathers courage and decides that she will kill her husband.

       The guilt of hitting a women doesn’t go well with Rajneesh. He discusses  this with Arun and asks for an opportunity to talk to Rachna so that he can apologise to her. He promises that he will dress as Arun and will just say sorry and come back. Meanwhile Arun encourages Rachna to kill her husband. He makes a plan for her and tells her to execute it. On the same day he sends Rajneesh to his home to apologise. Mistaking him to be Arun, she kills him. Midway during killing she realises that she still loves him. But she cant undo what was done. She runs away from that place. Unable to tolerate what she has done, she kills herself.

Arun was happy now because the case was closed and no one was monitoring him anymore. A beautiful lady comes out of the pool and kisses him gently on his cheeks.

“ Do  you think we can make our relationship official Sakshi?”asked Arun

Sakshi : No Arun, we need to wait for some time. Why to risk everything now?

Sakshi and Arun were enjoying whiskey and were happy that they had got rid of Rajneesh and Rachna. They were plotting their next move in their mind. Arun was making a plan to take hold of Rajneesh’s property and sideline Sakshi and she was plotting how to get rid of Arun. They were truly MADE FOR EACH OTHER.

The Popular Truth

Within few minutes of the murder, media representatives gather at the apartment and start interviewing the people around. The news of murder of a husband and kidnap of wife spreads like a wildfire. People start gathering around the apartment building and many NGO’s start protesting against the inefficiency of police.

News channel A

Anchor: What do you know about the people living in that apartment?

Security guard:  Yes madamji, I know them very well. A couple lived here. They looked like a happy couple. They used to come late in the mid-nights daily and I used to open the gates for them. Madam was so nice to me. She even gifted me money to buy something for my daughter. God bless her. I don’t know where she would be now and what state she might be. I hope she is fine.

Anchor : A happy couple, a happy life torn into pieces by unknown entity. Will the police be able to catch the culprit? Will the lady be rescued? Stay tuned for more information.

News channel B

Anchor : What do you know about the people living in that apartment?

Cleaning staff : The couple were weird madamji. They used to start fighting as soon as they got down from the car. They used to shout at each other a lot. I saw police coming to the apartment few days back. I don’t know who killed whom but I feel that it’s the wife who killed her husband.

Anchor : what’s the truth? Is it a murder or a murder and kidnap ? Is it just another case for police or will the police crack the case within days?  Stay tuned for more information.

News channel C

Anchor : What do you know about the people living in that apartment?

Lift Boy : Everyone is saying that a married couple was living in the apartment but I don’t think they were married. There were 2 -3 guys coming to that apartment but I didn’t see the guys together. All of them used to come to the apartment at different timings. I saw her going out with different guys. One of them might be pissed off with other guy and killed him and took away the girl.

Anchor : This is the mentality of the regular guys. A girl cannot go out with different people and if she does they question her character. We are worried about the missing girl and our prayers are with the victim’s family. What do you think ? whether police will catch the culprit? Please give your opinion on our online opinion poll and stay tuned for more information.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

With different versions of news,the mysterious murder case became a high priority case within hours. Pradeep Singh was getting many calls from higher officials for updates about the case but he couldn’t give them any as he was not having any concrete information. He called up for a meeting with Dileep and other constables.

Pradeep Singh : Did you get the details about the victim and his wife?

Dileep : Yes sir, the victim appears to be  Mr. Arun Yadav. He lives there with his wife Rachna as per the house agreement. He works for Rajneesh, the same guy who owns the apartment. There mobiles are switched off for now. Their last shown location was near the apartment.

Pradeep Singh : Cause of death?

Forensics: Blunt injury on head. He has been hit repeatedly by a blunt object on the head sir, multiple skull bones were fractured and acid has been used to disfigure the face. We are running the finger prints of the victim and other prints which we got at the crime scene to match with any existing data. We could not recover any weapon. We got a mobile phone which was also damaged. We are trying to retrieve the data and also the details of sim card used in that mobile.

Dileep : Victims dress and watch on his hand were identified by security personnel. Preliminarily we suspect him to be Arun Yadav.

Pradeep Singh: What about Rajneesh and his family?

Dileep: He is a real estate tycoon. He is married. No kids. He lives in Panchkula with his wife Sakshi.

Pradeep Singh : Did you get any information from neighbours?

Dileep : No other flat is occupied sir. They are the only 2 people living in the entire building.

Pradeep singh : Any CCTV footage?

Dileep : There are no cameras in the entire building. Process of installation was done but due to only one family living there, they did not activate them yet. There is another building on the road with CCTV facing main road. We are looking into the footage. Hopefully we will find something.

Pradeep Singh: Did anyone see Rachna going out of the apartment? Can we get her photographs?

Dileep: We got their photographs from marriage registration office. Both of them do not have any active social media accounts. We have circulated her photo to every station. We will get her soon sir.

Pradeep Singh : Anything else?

Dileep: Rachna has a weekly session with psychiatrist every Tuesday. She filed a case of Domestic violence against Arun Yadav but she dropped the charges earlier this month.   

Pradeep Singh: Ok. Keep tracking the mobiles of Rachna and Rajneesh. Ask constable Aditya to stay alert and inform us if he gets any information. Meanwhile lets go and meet Sakshi.

Pradeep Singh and Dileep reached Panchkula to meet Sakshi. The grandeur look of the house from outside gave Pradeep Singh an estimate of the wealth Rajneesh owns. They introduced themselves to the helpers and asked for Sakshi. They were asked to sit and meanwhile a hot lady in her mid 30’s was walking down the stairs. She had a straight bob with shaved temple hairstyle. Her nose ring and diamond ear studs were shining, adding glow to her elegant look.  She was holding a glass of wine in her left hand and a cigarette in the right hand . She was wearing denim shirt which was complementing her dusky complexion. She came and sat in front of Pradeep Singh with a very casual attitude.

I am inspector Pradeep Singh and this is constable Dileep. We are investigating  murder of Arun Yadav. He works for your husband. Do you know him?

Sakshi just nods her head inferring no. There was no change of any emotion on her face.

Pradeep Singh: We believe this murder is somehow related to your husband. We are not getting any access to your husbands location. Do you know where he is?

Sakshi: I don’t know where he is and I don’t care. I am with him only to enjoy his money. He has his own life and I have mine. You will have my cooperation if you have any questions regarding me. I don’t have anything to say about my husband. Now if you will excuse me, I have a date. Saying these words Sakshi gets up and goes inside.

Pradeep Singh was not ready to ask her anything more because he knew that she was not ready to share any information. Dileep was also annoyed with her responses. They started back to police station and meanwhile Pradeep Singh gets a call from Aditya.

Aditya : Sir!! We got the location of Rachna. She is at Vandana Resorts in Kasauli.

Pradeep Singh: Send a team there immediately and ask them to wait until I reach there.

Pradeep Singh speeds up the vehicle. The case was about to come to an end, sooner than he expected. Rescue team reaches the resort before him. He calls up the resort manager to ask about how many people were there with Rachna. To his surprise she was alone. Police surrounds the room where Rachna was staying. Everyone was ready with guns just incase something goes wrong. Waiter rings the doorbell twice but there was no response. Pradeep and his team breaks the door and enters inside the room.

                                      A beautiful young lady with curly hair and fair complexion was sitting on chair staring at them. Pradeep asks everyone to stand down. They identify her as Rachna. He could sense that she was not afraid of them. Rachna takes a sip of wine and starts talking “Do you know how painful it is to watch someone you love die? After marriage Arun was my life.I craved for his approval. I did everything he asked me to do. I became a puppet in his hands but still he tortured me. I loved him but what he gave me was only pain. I thought that by killing him I will get my revenge but the pain is still with me and I am unable to take the pain anymore. He got what he deserved”

Pradeep Singh could sense her pain. He thought of calming her down but before he could do anything Rachna gave a smile and shot herself in the head with the gun she was carrying in her right hand. With that close shot, Pradeep knew that she would be no more. Ambulance was called and enquiry was moving further.

            “Why did she kill her husband? Why did she kill herself? What would have happened and why did she destroy his face? I need some answers Dileep” shouted Pradeep Singh in peaks of frustration of losing the key evidence of case. He was disturbed by her death.

Aditya: Sir, I need to show you something. I was trying to recover the sim from the damaged mobile which we got from the crime scene and its done. As soon as I activated the sim we got info on Rajneesh mobile location.

Pradeep Singh:what do you mean?

Aditya :  The forensic report has come just now sir. DNA from the body couldn’t match the DNA recovered from other samples of the house.

Pradeep Singh: So???

Aditya: I think victim is Rajneesh and not Arun!!!

Pradeep Singh and Dileep looked surprised.

Pradeep Singh: What was the last dialled number? Just give it a call

Aditya was calling the number with the mobile on speaker mode.  Everyone present there were listening curiously to the dialer tone

– “You are calling Mr. Arun Yadav. Your call will be answered soon.”

(To be continued as chapter 3.3)

The Faceless Man

The boon of ever increasing population of India is the expansion of outskirts resulting in urbanisation. Naya Gaon is one such expansion near the city Chandigarh. Moving across this place, one  can  visualise new constructions everywhere, some of which are abandoned resembling haunted apartment buildings. On the way to Naya-Gaon from Chandigarh, big hoardings of Shubhdeep Constructions are seen. It’s a 15 storied luxury apartment building which was under construction but due to corona pandemic, the work has been stopped for months. There are 10 flats on each floor and only one apartment has been occupied on 13^th  floor. As number 13 is not used at Chandigarh (due to belief in European Superstitions) the floor was named as 12A.The entire building has only one functional lift and has security guards, cleaning staff and pool maintenance staff.

                           Pooja was in her mid 30s. She was a native of Bihar and she moved to Chandigarh after her marriage in 2012.She had dark complexion and was overweight. She started working as a helper in apartment no.4 on floor 12A. Her husband was working as cleaning staff and she got the job as a helper through him. It was a big flat with a living area, dining area,3 bedrooms, home theatre, 2 guest rooms and a servant room. Most of the house was empty without any furniture except for a sofa and a bed in one of the bedroom. Kitchen and home theatre were fully equipped. She used to joke with her husband that Saheb (owner) spent all the money in buying apartment and he is broke now, so the apartment was empty. She used to watch movies in the home theatre with her husband after confirming that no one was at home. However, she has never seen who lives there as she was given spare keys to access the flat except for one bed room. This one room would be opened only once a week for cleaning .

                There were no photo frames on any of the walls nor any fancy chandeliers. Pooja predicted that a male and a female were staying there from the clothes she was washing. Also Pooja’s  husband had minimal interaction with the couple only a few times. Every Tuesday the closed bedroom would be kept open for Pooja to clean. The aura in this room was different from other rooms. The room was colourful with paintings on all the walls. She never cared for those paintings much but she was more interested in the half emptied imported liquor bottles lying on the floor. She collected the remaining liquor from the bottles for her husband. This routine continued for few months.

        It was Tuesday and Pooja was late for work that day. She was tensed because she should finish her work by 12 pm on every Tuesday as per instructions given to her. When she reached the apartments, she was even more disappointed as the lift was temporarily out of order. On enquiring, maintenance workers told that the lift will be functional after an hour. With no option left, Pooja took the stairs and was drenched in sweat by the time she reached 5^th floor. She rested for few minutes to catch her breath and began to climb the staircase again. She was exhausted by the time she reached the apartment.

       She opened the main door and ran into the  kitchen and gulped few glasses of water. She sat on the floor to rest and regain energy to start working. It took her few minutes to come back to her normal state and it was then she noticed a strange smell. A smell of something being burnt or something rotten. She checked for any leftover food. As expected, she finds it and then she packs the leftover food and throws it in a dustbin outside the flat. The house was so stinking that she searches for a room freshener and uses it. Finally, she moves towards the bed room to clean it, but she notes the room was locked. She knocks the door to check if anyone was inside. She was wondering why was that the room locked unusually in spite of it being Tuesday. The weird persistent smell makes her even more uncomfortable  and suspicious. She goes ahead and gives a call to her husband asking him to come to the apartment immediately.

        Meanwhile, Pooja tries to check the room through windows from the balcony. She tries to see inside from windows but the reflection of light on windows makes it hard for her. She moves close towards windows, leans on them and covers her eyes from sideways to avoid light. She starts seeing inside the room and she moves her gaze from one item to another and finds no one inside. As she was about to move away from window she notices something peculiar. She gathers all her senses to see inside carefully. She freezes for a moment, a drop of sweat was falling along her right side cheek. She moves away from the window and starts breathing heavily. She couldn’t stand there anymore. She hears the doorbell and runs towards it to see whether it was her husband. She opens the door and holds her husband tightly. She tries to say something to him but she was so out of breath that he could understand only one word – lllaaaaaassshhhhhh…….. (dead body).

Nothing seemed to be disturbed in that bedroom. Everything was in its place except for a dead body lying on the floor and clotted blood. A partially burnt mobile was lying aside the victim. Victim was a tall,well built male. He was in formal clothes and had a Rolex watch on his left hand. His face was fully disfigured making it hard for anyone to identify.

             This case was to be handled by Inspector Pradeep Singh. He was known as workaholic. A tall 6 feet male with a turban and athletic body. Any case he handled earlier was closed soon, either by catching the culprit or with the mysterious encounter. It was rumoured that he killed his wife and doctored it as a suicide. He knows his ways around a murder.

“Was the door closed from inside?” asked inspector Pradeep Singh sitting in a squatting position in front of dead body

“Yes sir” answered constable Dileep

Pradeep Singh got up and started to observe everything in the room while forensic officials were trying to collect the clues. He comes out of the bed room to take a look at the entire apartment. “Tell me everything you got Dileep” said Pradeep Singh.

“It was the maid who noticed the body sir and her husband informed us . She has been working here for the past 5 months. A couple lives here sir. Body might be of the husband. No one knows their name here so i called the builder and asked him to forward the details of the couple living here. I checked with UT officials to get the apartment registration details. Apartment is in the name of Mr.Rajneesh” said Dileep.

“Any photographs of the couple?” Asked Pradeep Singh

“No sir, there aren’t any photographs in the entire house. Once we get the names, we will be able to move ahead”

“Get the details of the couple and Rajneesh. Enquire about the couple among other neighbours and get the CCTV footage and did you notice anything strange about this house Dileep? There are no photographs anywhere and the face of the person is destroyed either by burning it with fire or acid.”

“May be the accused was trying to burn the entire body sir” Dileep tried to interrupt Pradeep Singh.

“No Dileep, the accused particularly destroyed the face as you can see the rest of the body has no trace of flame and I feel this has something to do with the paintings in the room”, said Pradeep Singh.

“Paintings!!!!??? All those paintings look different from each other. How do you think they are related to the case sir?” asked Dileep.

Pradeep Singh starts arranging paintings in an order. Dileep stares at those paintings trying to understand the relation between paintings and murder.

“Now !!!!   Do you see any similarity in these paintings Dileep?”Asked Pradeep Singh

“I don’t know sir” replies Dileep.

“Check out the right side corner of all those paintings,” saying this Pradeep Singh walked out of room.

Now Dileep could notice the commonality in all those paintings. All the paintings whether having a beach or a garden or a group of people having lunch in the background also had a portrait of a person standing ,at the right side corner, a person without a face.

( To be continued as chapter 3.2)

THE WRITER:CHAPTER 3

“Why do you poke me always mom? Don’t you have any other work? I already told you a million times that I don’t want to live as a paying guest in some hostel and this  new place in Sector 15 is near to my hospital mom” Tinisha was speaking to her mom on mobile. After listening to her mom for few seconds, she continued saying “I did not arrange anything yet in my room. I will not be able to cook anything now. I am on my way to Patel market to eat something”.

     “Patel market is a lively and happening place located in Sector 15. What do you mean by what is sector? Chandigarh is divided into sectors, uhhhh” said Tinisha and her voice turned to be frustrating “why don’t you listen to me ever mom. I have told you about the City multiple times. I will call you once I reach home”. She cut the phone call with nodding her head in anger. She always does this after a phone call with her mom whenever she loses her temper.

       Tinisha has been selected as a Senior Resident (Doctor) in the department of Psychiatry at PGIMR (Post Graduate Institute of Medical research), Chandigarh.With aspiring dreams of working in a prestigious institute, she took the decision of relocating to Chandigarh from Jammu. Just like every Indian mom, Tinisha’s mom did not want her to stay alone. But Tinisha moved to a rented 2BHK house on the very same day of moving to Chandigarh.

       After having a delightful dinner and reaching home, she gave a goodnight call to her mother. Too tired to set the whole house, she decides to unpack only one suitcase which has her daily wear clothes and stuff. She tries to open the cupboard in her bedroom to put her clothes inside but she couldn’t as the door was stuck. She tries to open the door multiple times but goes in vain. She gathers all her energy for one last attempt to pull the cupboard door. The door opens with a sudden jerk and creaky noise and a box falls out of it. The old box was glaring at her with an interesting label on it which increased her curiosity. Without a second thought, she opens the box. Inside the box she finds 5 beautifully binded books, each book with a different color. Along with the books she finds a note- “my favourite novels”.

     Tinisha being a book worm started to check them out with eagerness. It seemed as if each novel was color coded. They had a bold heading with red color on centre of first page denoting its genre. Second page had the story name written in Italics style, each letter with a different shade of color . She was elated to see those novels and decides to read them and return them to the previous tenants if they ask or keep them for herself as a part of her book collection.

        She gets lost in the curiousness of these books and forgets to arrange her cupboard. She turns the books to and fro for checking the author’s bio but fails to find any information. Going ahead, she spreads all the 5 books in front of her. With a cup of green tea in her left hand, she points out at each book for each sip with her right hand with a thought that she would read the book pointed when she takes the last sip. After the final sip, she picks a book with excitement. But before she could open the book, she gets a call from an unknown number.

“Hello,who is this?” Asks Tinisha.

“Hi Tinisha, I lived at your place previously and I have forgotten to take a box of mine. I will collect it after few days” a male voice said from opposite side.

“ I am sorry yaar…the box had ‘DO NOT OPEN’ label and I was curious and opened the box. What are those books?  I loved the cover and thought of reading them. Who is the author? Can I read them?” Flow of questions were pouring from Tinisha’s end.

“Exciting to hear someone is curious about the books!!! Those books were written by me but I couldn’t publish them. You can read them and give me your opinion about my writing. But….”

“But…?????”

“I have only one rule, rather request” said the male voice

“What is it ???” asks Tinisha

“I love my books and I don’t want your state of mind to spoil the review of my book. If you have observed, genres are present on the first page. You should select the book depending on your mood. Suppose, if you are in a mood to get thrilled, you will have to read the thriller or if you want to be scared ,you have a horror book. Promise me that you will not read any book without interest, because your disinterest in reading should not affect the impact of my story”.

“ Oh wow!!!!! That’s interesting” Tinisha interrupted the unknown voice.

“Tell me…Can you follow this rule? If not I will haunt you…haha” said the person with a smiling tone in his voice.

“Ok. I will follow the rule for sure. By the way what is your name?” asks Tinisha

“Lets keep it interesting. For now you can call me Cancerdoc. Good night Tinisha”.

After the phone call Tinisha was very much excited. She decides to read a thriller. She looks at the books and finds the red colored book interesting and hence opens. To her surprise, the genre of the book was also ‘THRILLER’. She opens the book and turns to second page to find a title – Made For Each Other-3 Sides Of Coin.

Realising that she has forgotten to close the cupboard door from which the box has fallen, she gets up from her bed to close it. She stops closing it and stares at the inner side of the cupboard door. She notices few names which were written on it but were striked off. She ignores those names and closes the door. She sits comfortably on her bed and starts to read the novel. She doesn’t think about the names written on door or why were they striked as she has nothing to do with those names. Those names were:

Priscilla

Priyanka

Ankita

And

Babusha.

(To Be Continued As Chapter-3.1)

CHAPTER-2
REVEAL YOURSELF

It might be a box left by the previous tenants. But the note saying do not open
increased the curiosity of BABUSHA.It was 9 pm already and Babusha finished
cleaning and decorating her home. There she sits on her new sofa and starts
drinking her favourite masala chai. The box lies there in her diagonal view.
After sometime she gets an inner gut feeling as if someone is sitting inside the
box,just waiting for her to open it. A strange feeling at a new place in the night
time starts to freak her out. She doesn’t believe in stupidity. But what if it’s not
stupid? What if the feeling which she has is real?
She starts getting chills,her heart beat increases and again she feels as if
someone is beside her, noticing her and trying to say her the same thing again
and again. She decides to open the box. She slowly moves towards the box. All
her wild imagination and experience of watching horror movies makes it
further scary for her. How could a simple box scare someone? She says to
herself.
When she was about to hold the box electricity goes off and there was
darkness and absolute silence all around. Babusha never experienced this. She
started sweating within fraction of seconds and she could hear nothing but her
breath and her heart beat
lub-dub
lub-dub
lub-dub.
She was scared to move,she was scared to look behind,she was scared even of
her own thoughts.

Her mobile starts vibrating and it relieves her as she comes out of her shock.
She just smiles to herself and whispers to herself – kitni paagal Hun mai?
An interesting name pops on mobile. The caller has a strange name as shown
on Truecaller.She takes the call.
Hi Babusha -said the person on other side.
I just vacated the place where you are living now and I just wanted to say I left
a box there. I will collect it after few days. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I
hope you don’t mind.
A polite and strong voice on the opposite side made Babusha comfortable in
her situation. The electricity supply was back. She was relieved.
What’s inside the box? Asked curious Babusha.
I am a writer and I have written few books.I didn’t get a chance to publish
them yet. I like to increase the curiosity of people around me.That’s the reason
I have labelled the box as – Do Not Open. I thought you would have opened the
box,said the person on opposite side.
No,I haven’t. I just thought of opening the box but now I come to know what’s
in it, I don’t want to open. I am not in a mood to read now.
So you are saying you are not interested in my books?
The polite voice changed into something different.
You were about to open the box and now when you know what’s inside it you
don’t want to do that? Don’t you want to open the box and see what’s in it for
yourself ? I just want you to read my books. Just open the box. The polite voice
of a the person in call changed into multiple voices saying the same statement
–
Open the Box
Open the Box
Open the Box
Open the Box

Babusha felt someones presence at her home.The feeling was real.She was
unable to move. She was just standing there like a statue. Voices from the
mobile were not from the mobile anymore. She could hear them everywhere.
She was scared. She thought that was her last minute as a living person. She
was sweating.
Mobile fell from her hand and she could somehow see the voice coming from
mobile transforming itself into something. A scary dark creature with its ugly
hands and looks trying to hold Babusha. The creature now fully transformed
into a person comes near her. She could feel his breath. She could feel his
touch.He was real. She was feeling helpless.She could not free herself from
him. His image not going out of sight even with closed eyes. He leans towards
her ears and whispers shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Open the Box.
Babusha opens her eyes. Drenched in sweat with chai cup in her hand and
lying on sofa. It took her few seconds to realise she was asleep and it was a bad
dream. She sits for few minutes and then goes and takes shower. Bad dreams
can change your mood. She has her dinner. Speaks to her parents. She swears
to herself that she will never watch horror movies again. She switches off the
lights and the cold ac temperature makes her comfortable. She starts listening
to her favourite songs from 96 tamil movie and starts to hum those songs.
Everything seems to be back until she gets a call at 12 am in the night. It was
an unknown number but truecaller shows the name. it was weird and scary
again. There lies the mobile with same caller name which she saw in her dream
and the name was
The Writer…..shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh